Chapter 977: Must Punish Seekers of the Way

The Xuanhuang Realm…

“It truly is fraught with danger. Back then, we survivors from various realms had conflicts with the Xuanhuang Realm. Now that I’m here alone, revisiting the old place, I must be even more cautious,” explained Daoist Baihua.

“Oh? Conflicts back then? What do you mean? When calamity strikes, shouldn’t cultivators like us unite to overcome difficulties?” Li Fan pondered for a moment and immediately grasped the potential reason for the conflicts.

A group of displaced people encountering a rich cultivation realm like Xuanhuang would undoubtedly be tempted by greed. At that time, King Xuantian was likely still alive and would have definitely kept such ill-intentioned individuals out.

However, Li Fan asked, despite knowing the answer.

Daoist Baihua’s reply largely aligned with Li Fan’s speculation: “That Half-Immortal was indeed domineering. He directly rejected our proposal to unite and face the calamity together, and immediately sought to expel us.”

“Heh, naturally, some of us were displeased. So, we had a ‘spar’ among ourselves…”

Daoist Baihua’s figure shimmered with golden light, clearly indicating that her “spar” was far from a simple friendly match.

“As expected of a Half-Immortal baptized by immortal qi, even with an incomplete ascension, his strength was enough to crush ordinary cultivators. Knowing we were outmatched, we had no choice but to retreat. And that Half-Immortal truly possessed some immortal grace; he bore no grudges and even gifted us many resources before we departed…” Daoist Baihua remarked with emotion.

“It seems King Xuantian, while caring for the common people of Xuanhuang, isn’t foolishly benevolent. He harbors strong vigilance towards outsiders, especially those amidst a rampant calamity. However, he is still a bit too merciful. If it were me, I would have slaughtered all these people and plundered their resources. In an apocalyptic world, every extra resource means an extra bit of hope for survival. Letting a tiger return to the mountains is more likely to cause future disaster…” In that instant, numerous thoughts flashed through Li Fan’s mind.

He concealed the faint killing intent well, yet it didn’t escape the sensing capabilities of Daoist Baihua’s Glazed Body.

Daoist Baihua paused slightly, wondering where the other person’s inexplicable killing intent originated.

“Could it be that this person has some connection with that Half-Immortal from back then?” Daoist Baihua was startled.

After some thought, Daoist Baihua proactively changed the subject, shifting from past events to the disappearance of the Fishing Pond: “After I arrived in the Xuanhuang Realm, I remained attached to Little Liuli. Firstly, because I sensed that the Xuanhuang Realm seemed far more dangerous than before, and secondly, because the Glazed Wisdom Fruit greatly benefited my cultivation…”

“Life was quite peaceful until you and that Slab cultivator arrived.”

“If it were merely fishing for treasures from the Fishing Pond, that would be one thing, but he insisted on trying to comprehend the ‘Dao of Fishing’…”

At this point, Daoist Baihua glanced at Li Fan.

Slab’s decision back then was not unrelated to Li Fan’s instigation.

“This supreme treasure, the Fishing Pond, clearly originated from an unnamed True Immortal who had already established their own Dao. How could another person presume to infringe upon their Dao?”

“Slab’s attempt to comprehend the Dao of Fishing was bound to provoke a backlash. As for where Slab and this Fishing Pond ultimately went, I’m afraid it’s beyond our ability to ascertain.” Daoist Baihua shook her head, sighing softly.

Li Fan remained silent.

Daoist Baihua’s explanation had no flaws. Reflecting on himself, if someone attempted to comprehend the method of turning illusion into reality and reversing time and space through his own Dao, Li Fan would undoubtedly fight them to the death.

But soon, Li Fan thought of something else and frowned slightly: “Since a True Immortal’s Dao cannot be encroached upon by others, why did the Ming Dao Immortal leave behind several True Immortal Inscriptions? And why didn’t the Immortal Ruin Immortal’s thousands of years of Dao comprehension in the Immortal Ruin attract the Ming Dao Immortal’s attention?”

Daoist Baihua pondered for a moment, seemingly organizing her thoughts: “Perhaps you’ve misunderstood. The Dao comprehended by the Immortal Ruin Immortal has fundamentally no relation to the Ming Dao Immortal’s Dao.”

“The Ming Dao Immortal’s Dao allows for inscribing Dao into characters. But the Immortal Ruin Immortal comprehended Dao through the character ‘Hunger’…”

“The Dao he pursued might be hunger itself, or something related to hunger. But it would certainly not be the Dao of inscription…”

“Do you understand what I mean when I put it this way?” Daoist Baihua looked at Li Fan.

Li Fan pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly.

It wasn’t that he was too slow to grasp such a simple point, but a sudden idea had emerged in his mind, and he wanted to confirm it with Daoist Baihua.

“I once saw chains binding the Immortal Ruin Immortal, and I initially thought it was an external suppression.”

“Now that I think about it, it’s more likely the Immortal chained himself. The purpose, perhaps, was to prevent himself from losing control due to comprehending the character ‘Hunger.’ No, immortals are indifferent to mortal life, so it’s unlikely to be purely about harming innocents. It’s more likely he was worried that losing control would affect his own Dao…”

“So that’s it. The Dao he cultivates might be related to resisting the primal instinct of hunger.”

Li Fan was adept at extrapolating from himself to others, and in an instant, he deduced many possibilities.

Seeing Li Fan lost in thought, Daoist Baihua remained silent.

After a long time, Li Fan spoke again: “Although you’ve explained much, there’s no concrete evidence after all. One must be wary of those not of our kind. For the sake of the Xuanhuang people, I’m afraid I’ll have to put you in a difficult position…”

Li Fan’s reaction seemed to be within Daoist Baihua’s expectations. She showed no excitement, but said in a deep voice: “What if I am now also a cultivator of the Xuanhuang Realm?”

Li Fan was immediately stunned: “What do you mean by that?”

“I used the Glazed Body to reshape my own Glazed Body. And Liuli, within the Xuanhuang Realm, took on a form with the help of the realm’s natural power…”

“In a sense, I am now nurtured by the heaven and earth of the Xuanhuang Realm,” Daoist Baihua smiled slightly.

“If you don’t believe me, you can return to the Xuanhuang Realm with me and sense the will of heaven and earth. If I were an outsider with my current strength, heaven and earth would instinctively feel aversion. Any cultivator in the mortal realm could see it at a glance; it’s impossible to conceal.”

To verify her words, Li Fan brought Daoist Baihua into the main Xuanhuang Realm.

He instantly switched to the perspective of heaven and earth.

Indeed, Li Fan saw that heaven and earth bore no ill will towards Daoist Baihua.

There was even a subtle sense of intimacy and welcome, a hint of wanting to draw her in.

Li Fan couldn’t help but feel a sense of strangeness.

“What is your current cultivation level?” he asked.

“Well, in the Wansheng Realm, after my cultivation method was perfected and I transformed into a Glazed Body, the next step would have been to undergo the heavenly tribulation and ascend to immortality.”

“Although the path to immortality is severed, I cannot ascend, and my realm is stagnant. But my strength has been continuously increasing over the years, especially after absorbing the Glazed Wisdom Fruit…”

“If I were to classify it using the Xuanhuang Realm’s cultivation levels, it should be the Longevity Realm.”